Was Pep our worst ever manager?

[gingerox]

Think it's easy to forget the football we played at the start of this season; we looked like genuine play off contenders. Until that sh*tshow at Blackpool, we'd won 3, drawn 3 and lost 1, and at that point if you'd have told me we were going to be fighting relegation come end of the season I'd have laughed at you.

http://yellowsforum.proboards.com/thread/26512/result-matter-anymore

 

[Peterdev]

Darren Patterson was pretty poor. Had the resources and struggled at Conference level.
Waddock only had nine games but lost eight. Think he was out of his depth. Expected more from Talbot but for me probably the worst manager in history.
I don’t think anyone will ever match Jim Smiths first reign, but for Maurice Evans to actually keep us up despite losing great players could put him top. I remember Reading sacked him whilst top of the old division four. A really nice guy who sent me a two page hand written letter when I wrote to him whilst we were still in the top league.
Denis Smith had us playing wonderful football and made some great signings for us. Always a shame when they get moved on, but that’s the nature of the club we support

 

[Oslernorth]

I would say that Pep was the wrong appointment for our club, rather than a man lacking in managerial potential. It'll be interesting to see how his career pans out.
But for all Peps faults at Oxford, I'm glad he hit the ground running at the start of the season, otherwise we might now be in serious trouble

 

[Discoland]

DE at fans forum saying we had a Top 4 budget. Doesn't really help Pep's case.

 

[windmill]

Can you jog my memory with the details please?

Are you all brain dead. Graham Rix.

 

[TailsWeWin]

Shotton?

 

[Banbury2018]

I really think for whatever reason Pep didn’t work and I think there are many reasons possibly.? I do however think our new head coach will do the business. He reminds me in a lot of ways of Mapp but we need to remember Rome wasn’t built in a day.

 

[windmill]

I really think for whatever reason Pep didn’t work and I think there are many reasons possibly.? I do however think our new head coach will do the business. He reminds me in a lot of ways of Mapp but we need to remember Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Well, it better get built pretty soon because I'm in my seventies.

 

[Banbury2018]

Yo

Well, it better get built pretty soon because I'm in my seventies.

u old git?. I was hoping for the new head coach to have us up and running by next season with a good pre season and up at the top end of league 1.

 

[m]

Pep shuffles in at spot 5 in my list, pop pickers.

1. Kemp
2. Talbot
3. Patto
4. Wright
5. Pep

I'm sure there are candidates from before my era as well...

You forget Rix too.

 

[windmill]

I date from your era (and loved Colin Harrington as a kid--my hero!), and surely Arthur Turner has to be ahead of Maurice Evans. Turner got us into the league for the first time and took us up the leagues. Evans inherited us in a great position (of course, he did pretty well for us immediately thereafter).

Maurice Evans resigned with a 20 match winless run and and said it was nothing to do with results. Come on..... Arthur |Turner every time. Courted league teams for floodlit friendlies in 1959 and 1960 just to get known in the football world. After all, who knew the whereabouts of Headington? It was a continuing upward spiral.... I will never forget it. It mapped out the future for OUFC. Long may it continue.

 

[windmill]

And did little else! I cannot recall any of his home games because they were all so utterly bereft of anything.

You'd best see what Robinson achieves. Its the same scenario. Today?

 

[uptheus]

DE at fans forum saying we had a Top 4 budget. Doesn't really help Pep's case.

Darryl saying that must make it true then!

It was also poor timing when Pep came in with a number of the in coming players that Pep inherited had already been chosen by
MApp.

Don’t get me wrong, Pep didn’t help himself, but I still think it was wrong to sack him when we did with no one lined up and then taking as long as it did to replace him which has caused the predicament we’rein now.

Darryl has truly messed up over the last 12+ months, so if the finger really needs pointing then it’s at him, but I thank him for the 2 years period prior to that.

 

[Discoland]

Darryl saying that must make it true then!

It was also poor timing when Pep came in with a number of the in coming players that Pep inherited had already been chosen by
MApp.

Don’t get me wrong, Pep didn’t help himself, but I still think it was wrong to sack him when we did with no one lined up and then taking as long as it did to replace him which has caused the predicament we’rein now.

Darryl has truly messed up over the last 12+ months, so if the finger really needs pointing then it’s at him, but I thank him for the 2 years period prior to that.

I think my issue with Pep is how he changed the culture of the club, and Eales spoke about that too on Friday.

I'm not ITK by any means but I'm aware of Pep basically giving two fingers to the recruitment team and being a bit of a tyrant behind the scenes. We've all seen what happened with the players he's brought in. It wouldn't surprise me if those individuals did change the mood in the dressing room. If you look at our performances early in the season, we were playing some very good football but the insipid performances post September sucked the life out of the club. The entire atmosphere changed, and I think that resonated from the players and the stands at the same time, not just from one or the other. The club felt split as a community and that wasn't really restored until Charlton. I won't even mention THAT game because that in itself was a nightmare.

My number one would still be Rix though.

 

[unification]

I think my issue with Pep is how he changed the culture of the club, and Eales spoke about that too on Friday.

I'm not ITK by any means but I'm aware of Pep basically giving two fingers to the recruitment team and being a bit of a tyrant behind the scenes. We've all seen what happened with the players he's brought in. It wouldn't surprise me if those individuals did change the mood in the dressing room. If you look at our performances early in the season, we were playing some very good football but the insipid performances post September sucked the life out of the club. The entire atmosphere changed, and I think that resonated from the players and the stands at the same time, not just from one or the other. The club felt split as a community and that wasn't really restored until Charlton. I won't even mention THAT game because that in itself was a nightmare.

My number one would still be Rix though.

I’ve heard pretty much the same story about Pep. Too much change, too much hubris and it cost him his job and probably any form of career as a manager in this country.

 

[saddletramp]

How anyone can say that Jim Smith wasn't our greatest manager is beyond me ?
We lost 1 league game at the Manor in 83/84,we lost 1 home game in the league 84/85.
The only team EVER to win league's 3 and 2 in consecutive seasons.
Man City,Leeds,Southampton etc all been in level 3 and never achieved that.

The season we won what is now the Championship,we scored 5 goals in a game SIX times (and 4 goals 4 times)

Arthur Turner was before my time,his achievements were amazing.

But only one manager took us the the top flight of English football.

The Bald Eagle.

 

[Shaun Rice]

Hmmmm I think Pep was the worst manager we’ve ever appointed.
Okay so he had a hard time following one of our best managers ever. He was also appointed very late so his options were limited in terms of players he could bring in. I’m not sure how much budget he actually had - okay so top 10 wage budget maybe but we/he didn’t spend much in terms of fees. But that’s as much defence he’s going to get.

Reasons:
Signing some of the worst pro players I’ve ever seen.
Terrible, laughable post match interviews.
Taking a team so high on confidence and destroying it.
The mini metro worst trainer incentive. Or is that demotivater.
Finally for having his comedy personal social media management company and his @maybepep Twitter account. With it’s unprofessional tweets. Let’s face it not even Pep thinks he’s got what it takes to be a manager!

It won’t be said too many times but for me Pep is number 1 by miles!

 

[Yellowblood]

Pep was undoubtedly a poor appointment. Under Appleton we were progressing each year and there seemed to be a strategy and sense of optimism within the club that we were steadily on the up. This also seemed to be acknowledged by the football world, and allowed us to attract sort after talent (on loan and permanent). Under Pep we have not just halted this progression but made a backward step. I doubt clubs will be as willing to loan us promising players in the future.

I dont think however the blame can fully be on Pep. It's clear he is a good coach, however, his managerial record is poor. The board should have acknowledged this and realised recruitment should be left to a more experienced head. I am not in favour of Head Coach with a Technical Director, but think this would have been more successful in this scenario.

 

[unification]

Pep was undoubtedly a poor appointment. Under Appleton we were progressing each year and there seemed to be a strategy and sense of optimism within the club that we were steadily on the up. This also seemed to be acknowledged by the football world, and allowed us to attract sort after talent (on loan and permanent). Under Pep we have not just halted this progression but made a backward step. I doubt clubs will be as willing to loan us promising players in the future.

I dont think however the blame can fully be on Pep. It's clear he is a good coach, however, his managerial record is poor. The board should have acknowledged this and realised recruitment should be left to a more experienced head. I am not in favour of Head Coach with a Technical Director, but think this would have been more successful in this scenario.

He intentionally ignored the scouts’ reports at the start of the season. He was given a list of 10 players who we could approach similar to what we’ve done in previous seasons but he ignored it to bring his own players in.

You make a good point that the board should have intervened earlier though. Why appoint someone who wasn’t buying into what MApp had built here? From the noises Pep made after joining, I fully expected to see more Ledson’s Nelson’s and Rothwell’s through the door but instead we ended up with Xemi, Tiandalli and GvK. Did he pull the wool over the board’s eyes too?

I think he has had an easy ride from some on here. He was a tyrant behind the scenes and had a fear culture at the club. Just look at the response after the Charlton game from the likes of Wayne Brown and co once they were rid of him.

Worst manager would be a push but one of the worst appointments would be true. Just like Rix did after Atkins, he threw away a winning formula for one that sees us struggling with a more than capable budget this season.

 

[Steve McAvoy]

Agree with a lot of that. Bill Asprey comes into the top 5 for me.

Kemp (with big Joe) may have had to have dealt with Uncle Firoz, but did spend a lot of money on Quinn and Scott from Brentford. Waste of money ...

Bill Asprey should not be neglected in any debate about poor management. I wrote to him after a dismal home defeat (by Chesterfield, I think) to advocate for a change of goalkeeper back to Roy Burton and got a handwritten rant back for my trouble. OK, credit the bloke for writing back but something a little more considered would have been more like it. Rix and Kemp do, however, take some beating, as does Mark Wright.